Patent GB-1401852-A (GB)
Title: Individually loading articles into bags
IPC: B65B43/18
Filed: 1972-07-29
Abstract: 1401852 A machine for loading an article into a bag EMI Ltd 18 July 1973 [29 July 1972] 35549/72 Heading B8C [Also in Division B5] A machine for loading an article, particularly flat articles, such as gramophone records, saucers, plates, &c. into a bag comprises a carrier 68 for a stack of bags 5 having their open ends 6 uppermost, means 14-16 for moving a bag from said stack to an article receiving- position, a member 11, 12 adjacent the carrier for holding the rear edge of the mouth of said bag so that the mouth is opened, and means for delivering an article into the opened bag, there also being provided means 13, extending over, and in proximity to the upper edges of, bags in said stack to prevent lifting of the second bag as the first bag is moved by said bagmoving means. As shown, gramophone records, produced in an injection moulding machine, are dropped one at a time, into a shoot 25 of the bagging machine and then into a bag positioned therebelow to receive the record. The bagging machine comprises side frame members 1, 2 with cross members 3, 4 the side members being inclined at an angle of 30 degrees, and a stack of bags 5 with their open ends 6 uppermost and mounted in a carrier. The latter comprises an inclined base plate 7, with an upturned lip 7A, side walls 8, 9, and a plate 10 with a depending part 11 having a bag-engaging lower part 12 and with a pair of ears 13 which are formed by bending the corners of the plate 10 toward the stack 5 to extend closely above the first four bags at the leading end of the stack. The bottom surface of the ears 13 may be slightly inclined upwardly towards the trailing end of the stack. The plate portion 12 and the lip 7A support the leading end of the stack 5, the plate portion 12 also assisting in the opening of each leading bag in the stack. The lip 7A may be replaced, e.g. by fingers which extend inwardly from the side members 1, 2 to engage the side edges of the stack. Prior to the delivery of a record to the shoot 25, a bag is opened beneath the shoot by operating a pneumatic motor 22 to swing a suction head 14 about a pivot 19 and engage the front wall 14 of the leading bag in the stack, the front wall of each bag having a cut-away portion so that the said front wall can pass below the plate portion 12. Vacuum is applied to the suction heads 14, which are then retracted to pull the front wall of the leading bag past the plate portion 12, which holds the rear wall of the bag stationary, and the bottom of the bag over the lip 7A, the ears 13 ensuring that the adjacent bag is not lifted. The record, monitored by a photo-cell 27 and lamp 28, slides down the guide 25 and into the bag, the vacuum heads 14 being released so that the bagged record slides down a guide 26 to collection means, not shown. The moulding machine, mounted on a bed 51, comprises fixed and movable mould parts 52, 53 respectively mouldable material being supplied to the mould cavity through the nozzle 56 on an injection barrel 57 fed with mouldable material by screw-feeder 58 supplied from a hopper. When the movable mould part 53 is withdrawn it carries therewith the moulded record which is then transferred laterally to a trimming support 59 having a retractable pin 60 and upon which the record rotates while peripheral flash is removed by a trimmer 61. The moulded record is transferred from the mould block 53 to the trimming support 59 by means of suction head 62 which is adapted to more in three dimensions, the record being released from the support 59 by withdrawing the pin 60. If the record does not require to be trimmed it can be released directly from the mould part 53. Instead of being supplied from the moulding machine the records may be supplied to the shoot from a stack of records.